Images

Collected by Ellison Orcutt, in Caroline County Virginia this small spring Andrena is a fan girl of mustards, particularly the spring mustards that are native and occur in wooded and semi-shaded areas in the spring, often very early in the spring.

A small bee, whose female is a gatherer of pollen from native mustard plants. However, this is the male as can be told by counting the number of antennal segments (13) and by the fact that it has a bright white clypeus. Which, with very very rare exceptions is something that only male Andrena have. This is Andrena arabis.

One of many small Andrenas out in the spring in Eastern North America. This one favors the pollen of brassicas. Photoshopping by Thistle Droege, photograph by Dejen Mengis.

Here is the male of the recently posted female Andrena arabis. The male illustrates what happens periodically with some of the males of this largely brown, dark group of mining bees which is that a few of them have a yellow, or in this case and off-white, clypeus. Surely this must be some sort of sexual signal as the females almost never have these markings.

The red maple, Acer rubrum, often one of the most dominant trees in deciduous woods in the East. It blooms very early in the spring and provides pollen and nectar to the set of bees, and flower flies, that come out early.

The red maple, Acer rubrum, often one of the most dominant trees in deciduous woods in the East. It blooms very early in the spring and provides pollen and nectar to the set of bees, and flower flies, that come out early.

Acmaeodera ornata,

Bee/Yellow Jacket mimic! Nectaring on goldenrod and aster, Beltsville, Maryland. Thanks to Chris Thompson for the identifications.

Lovely wasp from Kruger National Park. Again, not being a wasp person, I don't know the species. The group may be the sand wasp (Bembicini) . Photos by Anders Croft.

This male was captured in the Great Basin National Park, Nevada as part of a survey of bees in high elevations vulnerable to climate change. Photo taken by Colby Francouer.Canon Mark II 5D, Zerene Stacker, 65mm Canon MP-E 1-5X macro lens, Twin Macro Flash, F5.0, ISO 100, Shutter Speed 200

Male Agapostemon's almost all have this same pattern, Metallicy green on the head and thorax and then striped yellow and black on the abdomen. Females uniformly don't have yellow anywhere. Why is good question as this male yellowness syndrome runs throughout the bee kingdom, cutting across families.

Another bee associated with deep sandy soils. This one also found in a study sand pit reclamation in Anne Arundel County in Maryland. Amazing to think that such metallic green bees are all around us having done their business for millions of years.

Andrena nigrihirta, female, Isle Royale National Park, Michigan

This is picture 1 from a 12 picture series by Matt Buffington at the USDA Parastitic Hymentoptera group at the Smithsonian. Matt's group uses a system very similar to ours to photograph and stack this super tiny wasp. Perhaps one of the most spectacular of the eucoiline wasps out there, species of Acantheucoela are native to South America.

The red maple, Acer rubrum, often one of the most dominant trees in deciduous woods in the East. It blooms very early in the spring and provides pollen and nectar to the set of bees, and flower flies, that come out early.

Most people don't realize how important willow trees are to our native bees in North America. They are a major pollen and nectar source early in the spring and they have more specialists than almost any other plant on the continent. Here is one of those specialists. This is Andrena nida. This bee feed it's young only the pollen from Willow.

Most people don't realize how important willow trees are to our native bees in North America. They are a major pollen and nectar source early in the spring and they have more specialists than almost any other plant on the continent. Here is one of those specialists. This is Andrena nida. This bee feed it's young only the pollen from Willow.

Pulled from malaise trap sludge, this little male was found in Calvert County as part of a survey of the Hymenoptera of Warrior's Rest Park. Photoshopping by Thistle Droege and photograph by Brooke Alexander.

One of the relatively few fall Andrena bees (most occur on spring wildflowers). This dark species is associated with Goldenrods and Asters...but then again, that is the main nectar and pollen source of the Fall. They also have a tendency to show up in sandy areas and, indeed, this specimen is from the Carolina Sandhills collected by Heather Campbell.

One of the relatively few fall Andrena bees (most occur on spring wildflowers). This dark species is associated with Goldenrods and Asters...but then again, that is the main nectar and pollen source of the Fall. They also have a tendency to show up in sandy areas and, indeed, this specimen is from the Carolina Sandhills collected by Heather Campbell.

Andrena nuda, Somerset County, Maryland, April 2012, female